Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia has suspended plans to establish the largest solar power plant which was at $200 billion, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing a Saudi government adviser and other officials as saying.
Instead, the kingdom will focus on a “broader, more practical strategy to boost renewable energy”, the newspaper added, noting that talks of the new strategy will unfold at the upcoming Future Investment Initiative conference to be held later in October in Riyadh.
In March, SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to fund the largest solar generation project.
The new strategy will contribute to clarifying the country’s future goals for the renewable energy sector, a Saudi official further indicated.
“Renewable energy deployment and investment in the GCC could reach $16 billion by 2020, which could go to as high as a cumulative total of $40 billion to be invested between 2016 and 2020, provided correct decisions and policies are adopted,” a study by management consultancy Strategy & Middle East showed.
